Research Interests

I am a PhD Candidate in Social and Ecological Sustainability at the University of Waterloo where I am conducting multidisciplinary research in transitions towards sustainability via systems thinking and complexity, ecological economics and narrative ecology.

Inspired by the works of Fritjof Capra, Morris Berman and Ian McGilchrist. I see the sustainability crises as one of perception, an imbalance of reductionism over holism, quantity over quality, logos over mythos. My work will explore the role of narrative as a tool to understand and work with complexity and 'wicked problems'.

My thesis is focussed within the nexus of land, energy, technology, food and culture, and the tensions that arise at different spatial and temporal scales. While theory suggests we face a choice between high tech/ land-sparing or low-tech/land-sharing futures, what might narratives tell us of the current patterns of these systems and their possible directions of adaptation? 

My research touches on many fields/themes that interest me including anthropology, agricultural history, agroecology, food networks, resilience thinking, land skills and storytelling.

In 2022 I was selected as a Fellow for the Canadian Society of Ecological Economics Biennial 'EE' Academy. In 2023 i was appointed as Director (Internal Comms) to the CanSEE Executive.

Teaching Assistant and Graduate Research Assistant

I am currently a Research Assistant (Human-Nature Reconnection & Rewilding Environmental Education) for Professor Steffanie Scott (Oct 2023-April 2024)

I have been a Teaching Assitant on the following courses:

  • ERS 300 Intro to Systems Thinking (Prof Dan MCarthy) Fall 2020, 2021
  • ERS 102 Sustainability: The Long View (Prof Steven Quilley) Winter 2020, 2021, 2022
  • ERS 215 Environmental and Sustainability Assessment (Shefaza Esmail) Spring 2021
  • ERS 341 Professional Restoration Practice (Shefaza Esmail) Spring 2022
  • ERS 301 Sustainability Thought and Practice (Prof Kelsey Leonard) Fall 2022
  • ENVS 200 Field Ecology (Patrica Huynh) Spring 2023

Related activities

Land/Rural skills teaching : I originally came to Canada from the UK with two other 'hedgelaying' practitioners at the invitation of Prof Stephen Quilley at the University of Waterloo to take part in a series of talks and demonstrations for the Hedgelaying In the Ontario Landscape Project. In 2018 I set up the Ontario Land Skills Network, based at Mount Wolfe Farm in Caledon to teach land and farm-adjacent skills, such as hedgelaying, blacksmithing, green-wroodworking scything and basket weaving. OLSN focusses on the development of practical skills to connect people to the land and to foster  good stewardship, and to develop and support the community of skills practitioners. I

In 2023, with Professor Steffanie Scott, I created and managed the Land Skills for Wellness and Sustainability Initiative funded by the Sustainability Action Fund from the UW Sustainability Office. Also in 2023 I organised a Skillshare workshop at the Canadian Society for Ecological Economics Biennial Conference.

Particpatory Narrative Inquiry

I work as a consultant facilitator specialsing in complex intervention particularily working with narrative ecology techniques such as a particpatory narrative inquiry. I have used these skills to support the development of community groups inclduing The River Wey and Mole Catchment Partnerships (Surrey, UK), Oak Ridges Institute for Applied Sustainability (ORIAS), Friends of The Dingle Schoolhouse, ORIAS, Caledon Community Resilience Workshops for Palgrave and Inglewood in Caledonn, Ontario and most recently for  The Food System Round Table of Waterloo Region on which I  also serve as a Board Member.

Background

Before undertaking my PhD i spent 15 years in the UK Conservation Sector, both as an ecological consultant and working for conservation NGOs. I have extensive experience in project management and the creation of citizen science projects.

My personal website and blog is https://james-t-jones.com/